Joshua:8:1-29

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* And Jehovah said to Joshua , Fear not , neither be dismayed . Take with thee all the people of war , and arise , go up to Ai . See , I have given into thy hand the king of Ai , and his people , and his city , and his land . * And thou shalt do to Ai and to its king as thou didst to Jericho and to its king ; only , the spoil thereof and the cattle thereof shall ye take as prey for yourselves . Set an ambush against the city behind it . * And Joshua arose , and all the people of war , to go up to Ai . And Joshua chose thirty thousand valiant men , and sent them away by night . * And he commanded them , saying , See , ye shall be in ambush against the city , behind the city : go not very far from the city , and be all of you ready . * And I and all the people that are with me will approach to the city ; and it shall come to pass when they come out against us , as at the first , that we will flee before them . * And they will come out after us till we have drawn them from the city ; for they will say , They flee before us , as at the first ; and we will flee before them . * And ye shall rise up from the ambush and take possession of the city ; and Jehovah your God will deliver it into your hand . * And it shall be when ye have taken the city , that ye shall set the city on fire ; according to the word of Jehovah shall ye do . See , I have commanded you . * And Joshua sent them forth ; and they went to lie in ambush , and abode between Bethel and Ai , on the west of Ai . And Joshua lodged that night among the people . * And Joshua rose early in the morning , and inspected the people , and went up , he and the elders of Israel , before the people to Ai . * And all the people of war that were with him went up , and drew near , and came before the city ; and they encamped on the north of Ai ; and the valley was between them and Ai . * Now he had taken about five thousand men , and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai , on the west of the city . * And when they had set the people , the whole camp on the north of the city , and their ambush on the west of the city , Joshua went that night into the midst of the valley . * And it came to pass when the king of Ai saw it , that the men of the city hasted and rose early , and went out against Israel to battle , he and all his people , at the appointed place before the plain . But he knew not that there was an ambush against him behind the city . * And Joshua and all Israel let themselves be beaten before them ; and they fled by the way of the wilderness . * And all the people that were in the city were called together to pursue after them ; and they pursued after Joshua , and were drawn away from the city . * And not a man remained in Ai and Bethel that went not out after Israel ; and they left the city open , and pursued after Israel . * And Jehovah said to Joshua , Stretch out the javelin that is in thy hand toward Ai ; for I will give it into thy hand . And Joshua stretched out the javelin that he had in his hand toward the city . * And the ambush arose quickly from their place , and they ran when he stretched out his hand , and came into the city , and took it , and hasted and set the city on fire . * And the men of Ai turned and saw , and behold , the smoke of the city went up to heaven , and they had no power to flee this way or that way ; and the people that fled to the wilderness turned upon the pursuers . * When Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city , and that the smoke of the city went up , they turned again , and slew the men of Ai . * And the others went out of the city against them ; so they were in the midst of Israel , some on this side , and some on that side ; and they smote them , until they let none of them escape or flee away . * And the king of Ai they took alive , and brought him to Joshua . * And it came to pass when Israel had ended slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field , in the wilderness wherein they had chased them , and they had all fallen by the edge of the sword , until they were consumed , that all Israel returned to Ai , and smote it with the edge of the sword . * And so it was , that all who fell that day , men as well as women , were twelve thousand , all the people of Ai . * And Joshua did not draw back his hand , which he had stretched out with the javelin , until they had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai . * Only , the cattle and the spoil of the city Israel took as prey to themselves , according to the word of Jehovah which he had commanded Joshua . * And Joshua burned Ai , and made it an everlasting heap of desolation to this day . * And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until the evening ; and at the going down of the sun Joshua commanded , and they took his carcase down from the tree , and threw it down at the entrance of the gate of the city , and raised upon it a great heap of stones , [which remains ] to this day .

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